Child of Mine: a psychological thriller

by Chambers, V. J.

  “Listen to me, a woman let Ross out of the facility. We saw pictures of her.”

  “We saw pictures of a woman who visited him. We don’t know that she let him out.”

  He sighed. “Seriously?”

  “Maybe you set all that up to throw me off. Hell, maybe you wanted to implicate Jordan, I don’t know.” She was so confused. She didn’t want to believe that Isaac had done all this to hurt her, but she couldn’t take any chances.

  “Lorelei—”

  “If you really didn’t do it, you’ll give me your gun and let me tie you up,” she said.

  “What?” he said.

  “You have a gun on you, right? I saw it when we… when we fucked, you bastard, so I know you have a gun. You give that to me, and you let me tie you up, and then maybe—”

  “I have a gun. Think about that for a second. They didn’t take my gun, Lorelei. I’m not on suspension. If I was suspended, they would have taken my gun and my badge and you’ve seen both. That Homer guy is just out to get me.”

  “What? Why would he lie?”

  “He’s a jackass, that’s why. Remember how we saw him bumming smokes to teenagers? You can’t believe him over me.”

  “Look, let me tie you up, okay? I’ll feel better if—”

  “I’m not letting you tie me up. I don’t know what’s wrong with you right now, Lorelei, but you’re not making sense.”

  She let out a sob and put her fist in her mouth.

  “Look, whatever, if you’re not letting me in, I’m not standing out here in the rain.”

  “Where are you going?” she said.

  “What do you care?”

  And then he didn’t say anything else.

  She waited for a few moments, waiting for another word from him.

  But nothing.

  She opened the door a crack.

  He was gone.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Damn it, damn it, damn it.

  Lorelei closed the door and locked it. She fastened the deadbolt. And then she went upstairs to check on the boys. They were in the closet in the room at the top of the stairs.

  “Good,” she said. “Stay here.”

  “Wait, Mom, what happened?” said Simon. “I think you should let me come with you. I can help protect you.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “No, I can’t let you put yourself in danger. I wouldn’t be able to even function that way. You stay here.” She turned to Jordan. “Any idea where your mother has gone?”

  “No,” said Jordan.

  “You think she heard us?” said Simon. “You think she knows that you know everything?”

  Lorelei sighed. “I’m going to find her. And then we’re all going to hole up somewhere together, and we’ll wait out the storm. When it clears up, we’ll figure everything out. Okay?”

  “I guess,” said Simon.

  “Just stay here,” she told him. “Both of you.”

  She ran back down the stairs and began searching the bottom floor of the house for Mia. She looked in every room—all three of the bedrooms and their adjoining bathrooms. She looked through the kitchen and the living room again.

  That done, she went back upstairs and searched there.

  She searched the whole house. Even the closets.

  Mia was not inside.

  Maybe she had overheard everything. Maybe she’d been upset. Maybe she’d gone outside.

  Damn it.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about Mia these days. Mia was shaping up to be the kind of person that Lorelei couldn’t really be friends with, let alone a best friend. But Mia didn’t deserve to be hurt or killed by Isaac, and Lorelei didn’t know how dangerous Isaac was. He might lash out at anyone he saw.

  She went back to the room where the kids were and told them she was going outside to look for Mia.

  “No, don’t, Mom,” said Simon. “She’s not worth it.”

  Jordan flinched.

  “I think Jordan might disagree with you,” said Lorelei. “Anyway, no matter what horrible things she did to you, Jordan, Mia is a human being. If something happened to her, and I knew that I could have protected her, I would never forgive myself.”

  So, Lorelei went back down the stairs. She unlocked the door. She didn’t have keys to it, so she was going to have to leave it unlocked.

  She considering yelling up to the boys to lock themselves in the bedroom up there. If Isaac got in, then there would at least be that much protection between them and him.

  On the other hand, if he encountered a locked door, he’d know someone was inside.

  No, it was better this way. Besides, Isaac was primarily interested in her. When he saw she was outside, he’d come after her.

  She opened the door. The wind was icy cold and the rain was like chilly needles. She stepped back in and yanked a jacket off the rack by the door. Shrugging it on, she left the house and shut the door behind her.

  Immediately, she was pelted with rain. It soaked her pants and got inside the collar of the jacket. Not even putting up the hood did anything to protect her.

  She hunched up her shoulders and started forward.

  She could see that there were three cars in the driveway. Mia’s, hers, and Isaac’s. So, Mia hadn’t taken the car. Wherever she’d gone, she must be on foot.

  But Lorelei didn’t see her anywhere.

  And Isaac hadn’t gone anywhere either. Maybe he was sitting in his car right now. Maybe if she went to him and offered herself, he’d spare the others. She was the one he was obsessed with, after all. This all centered around her.

  Bowing her head, she fought against the wind to make her way over to Isaac’s car. Rain pelted her nose and cheeks, running in rivulets inside her hood, down her shirt. She was wet. She was freezing.

  Isaac’s car was empty.

  Now what?

  She had to look for Mia, she guessed. Maybe Isaac was with her.

  She made her way around the house, hugging the side of it for a bit of shelter.

  When she got out there, she didn’t see anyone. But she did see a car.

  She hadn’t seen a car when they came in. Of course, with the angle of where it was parked, she might not have seen it from the road. But maybe she would have. She couldn’t be sure.

  Carefully, she approached the car.

  As she got closer, she realized it appeared empty. But she didn’t let down her guard until she was close enough to look through the windows, because someone could be crouching back there, waiting for her. Isaac could be back there and when she got close, he could spring out and grab her by the throat—

  Nothing in the back seat but a few fast food wrappers.

  In the front, it was similarly empty, except for one thing… An ID badge with a picture. It looked familiar.

  She squinted. Yeah, that was right. She’d seen ones like it when she’d been at Stonebook Psychiatric Center. And the picture on there? That was Dylan Wayne Ross.

  What the hell?

  She put her hand on the handle of the car door, to open it up.

  “Lorelei,” said a deep voice.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  It was Isaac. He was completely soaked through, his hair pasted to his forehead.

  She held up a hand to ward him off. “Stay back.”

  “I’m going to call Dennis,” said Isaac. “I’m going to call him, and he’ll tell you that he never suspended me.”

  “Do you see what’s in this car?” she said. “What is this?”

  Isaac had out his phone.

  “I don’t care if you aren’t suspended,” she said. “That’s not the most important thing that Homer said.”

  He lifted his chin. “So, what’s the most important thing?”

  “Do you have Mia? Did you hurt her?”

  He took her by the shoulders. “Tell me why you suddenly don’t trust me.”

  She flinched from his touch, bracing herself.

  He let go of her. “I’m not going to hurt you, Lor.”
/>   She slowly relaxed, looking up at him.

  “Don’t be afraid of me.” He was begging her. He licked his lips. “Where is all this coming from? I know you’ve been through hell, and it makes you paranoid, but I am not the enemy here.”

  She glared at him. “I don’t owe you any explanations.”

  “Fine,” said Isaac, “but we don’t know who drove this damned car here, so I’m not going anywhere. You and Simon might not be safe. Where the hell is Jordan? You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on her.”

  “Him,” said Lorelei.

  “What?”

  “It’s a long story,” she said. “It’s not Jordan. He’s not involved.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because Simon told me, and I trust him.” She shook her head at Isaac. “You, on the other hand, have been lying to me since the beginning.”

  “I haven’t.”

  “You’re reading my profiles? Coming in to work hungover?”

  He rubbed his forehead. “Look, I’ve always missed you, okay?”

  “No wonder you were so quick to forgive me for cheating on you. You’re unhealthily fixated—”

  “It wasn’t all the time,” he said. “Maybe after you called me and told me about Simon being framed, maybe then I got worse. Maybe Dennis did tell me that it might be a good idea to take some time off. But I’m not suspended. I’m not fixated. I’m just a normal man who lost the woman he loved and never got over it!” He was shouting now, his voice carrying over the sound of the whistling wind.

  She took a step back.

  He pulled out his phone. “I’m calling Dennis.”

  “Isaac—”

  But he already had his phone out. He was holding it to his ear.

  She pressed her lips together. If he was really calling his boss, then didn’t that mean he was telling the truth?

  “Hey Dennis,” said Isaac. “Look—” A pause. “Can you just—” Another pause. “I’m sorry I interrupted your dinner…. Yes, I’m doing my best to get my head on straight, but that’s not why I called. I wonder if you could talk to Lorelei—” Another pause. “She’s here with me, and she’s had a call from Dan Homer, and I wonder if you could just confirm that—” Another pause. A long pause. “Can you say that to her, please?” A quick pause, and then he put the phone up to Lorelei’s ear.

  “Hi, Lorelei,” said Dennis. “How are you?”

  “Dennis?” she said, taking the phone. “Dennis Wade? That’s really you?”

  “We sure miss you in the office,” said Dennis. “I hear you have a kid?”

  “I-I do. A boy.”

  “Enjoy it. They grow up fast. Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but don’t talk to Homer anymore.”

  “What?” said Lorelei. “He called me. It’s not like I—”

  “Homer’s on suspension.”

  “He said that Isaac was on suspension.’

  “No, no. Isaac’s on a leave of absence. A vacation. Homer, on the other hand, is in trouble because he’s been told to leave off investigating you and Crispin Barker and Isaac, but Homer can’t let it go. Beating a dead horse, from what I understand. He’s convinced there’s corruption that’s being covered up, and he’s been determined to find it.”

  “He told me he was monitoring Isaac’s requests to have plates run,” said Lorelei. “How does someone do that when they’re on suspension?”

  “What’s Isaac doing running plates on vacation?” said Dennis.

  “Lorelei.” Isaac snatched the phone back from her. “Uh, Dennis, I didn’t do that…. No, Homer’s way off with that, I swear…. Look, you probably want to get back to your dinner.” A pause. “Yeah, you too, sir. Have a good night.” He hung up the phone.

  She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Jesus, you’re going to get me in real trouble,” said Isaac. “What were you thinking?”

  “How did he know you had those plates run?” she said.

  “I don’t know. Maybe Homer’s bribing my friend Nancy to snitch on me,” said Isaac darkly. “Maybe Nancy is not really my friend. The point is, Homer was lying. I wasn’t.”

  She continued to glare at him.

  “Can we argue about this inside?” said Isaac. “I’m freezing.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. She was even more confused now than she’d been before. But if Dennis Wade said that Isaac wasn’t on suspension, then she believed him.

  “Look, this car has Ross’s ID in it,” said Isaac. “That probably means Ross drove it here. And he’s not in the car anymore, so he could be anywhere.”

  “Shit,” said Lorelei. “I left the front door unlocked.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Inside again, Lorelei locked the door behind herself. She peeled off the jacket she’d been wearing, but her clothes were soaked beneath. She was going to need to change.

  “I don’t know where Mia is,” she said to Isaac. “She’s run off. She’s probably upset because I know the truth about what she did to Jordan.”

  “What did she do?” said Isaac.

  “You know how you said Jordan looked mannish?”

  “Yeah?”

  “That’s because he’s actually a boy. Only his mother made him dress as a little girl since he was a baby and passed him off as a girl.”

  “Seriously?” said Isaac. “That actually happens?”

  “It gets worse,” said Lorelei. “She had an implant put in him to stop his male hormones from developing.”

  Isaac made a face.

  “But let’s go back,” said Lorelei. “Because I just want you to know that I don’t officially completely trust you, not yet, okay, and—”

  “What? Do you want me to call Dennis back? You have to believe me.”

  She took a deep breath. “I think I do. I just can’t be sure. And I hope it’s okay, because I’ve let you into the house, and I don’t know what I’m going to do if it turns out you’re actually a psychopathic monster.”

  Isaac grabbed her hand. “Not every man you’re involved with is a jerk. I swear.”

  She shut her eyes. “It’s only that I’ve been so confused—”

  “You’ve been under stress. It’s made you jumpy.”

  She pulled her hand away.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Sorry,” she said. “But I’m not sure who to trust anymore. I’m confused about everything.” She took a deep breath. “Well, there’s no point in having the boys hide in the closet from you, I guess. Let’s go get them.” She started up the stairs.

  Isaac came after her. “You told them to hide from me? Really?”

  She didn’t answer. Something else was occurring to her. She paused. “You think Ross drives?”

  “What?” said Isaac.

  She turned to face him. “Well, we thought Ross was driving a car before, but it turned out to be Holmes. Or Homer, who was watching you.”

  “Wait, what? Holmes is Homer?”

  “Did I leave that part out? He said he was posing as a librarian to be close enough to investigate me for the Barker case.”

  “Bastard,” said Isaac.

  “Anyway,” she said. “What if Ross doesn’t drive at all? He didn’t sound too mobile from what they said at Stonebrook.”

  “If he can kill, he can drive,” said Isaac. “But the car is on the Dawson property. Which brings us back to Jordan.”

  “Jordan didn’t do it,” said Lorelei. “He was with Simon during both of the murders.”

  “Right, Ross did it,” said Isaac. “But maybe Jordan broke him out of the facility.”

  “Why would she do that?” said Lorelei. She shook her head and turned back around. She climbed the rest of the steps and opened the door the bedroom.

  Tried to open the door, anyway. It was locked.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  She banged on the door. “Simon?” No answer. But there was a noise, a kind of grunting sound. She put her ear to the door. Yes, she could hear it. It was the
kind of sound that someone made when he was straining himself.

  Oh, God. Jordan was probably strangling Simon to death.

  “Simon,” she screamed, rattling the doorknob.

  “What?” said Isaac from behind her.

  She pushed him out of the way and hurried down the hallway.

  “Lorelei, what are you doing?”

  She got a running start and hurled herself against the door. It burst open.

  The boys were wrestling on the floor of the bedroom, but they weren’t strangling each other. Instead, they were fighting over a small, rectangular object.

  When they saw her, Jordan leaped to his feet and ran for the door.

  Lorelei tried to grab him.

  Jordan ducked around Lorelei.

  Simon was on his feet too, pursuing Jordan. “I don’t see why you’re still protecting her!”

  Lorelei caught Simon. “What’s going on?”

  And Isaac had Jordan.

  Jordan was struggling in the older man’s arms. He threw the rectangular object down the stairs. Now Lorelei could see that it was a cell phone.

  “What?” she said.

  Simon was panting. “We were going to try to call the police, like you said, but we left our phones at the kitchen table, so we went down to get them.”

  “Simon, I told you to hide,” said Lorelei. “Oh, and don’t worry, Isaac’s not the killer. I was wrong.”

  “I know,” said Simon.

  “You know? What?” Lorelei shook her head. The world had been flipped again, another roll of the dice. Everything was still topsy-turvy.

  “Let me get the phone,” said Simon. “It’ll explain everything.”

  Lorelei let him go.

  Simon went down the stairs.

  She followed him.

  Jordan made one more attempt to get free from Isaac and then went slack in the older man’s arms. He looked beaten. “Don’t show them,” he said quietly. “She didn’t mean it.”

  Simon scooped up the phone. Lorelei and her son were both at the bottom of the steps now. Isaac and Jordan began making their way down too.

  Simon switched the phone on and began to scroll on the screen. “Well, Ms. Dawson’s phone was there, and I didn’t see mine, so I picked it up. I was trying to make a call, but I opened this instead.” He handed the phone to Lorelei.